After two weeks of vacation, this past week was all about getting back into the groove of things. All in all I’m feeling refreshed and recharged. I started training for my spring marathon last Monday - nothing like starting a new training cycle to get you amped up. It also helped that I’m in the midst of a run streak. As I mentioned, Run Ottawa has challenged its members to run at least 1.5km every day for the month of January. I’m pleased to say I’ve successfully made 12 days :)
I’m using a 21 week training plan for the Ottawa Marathon, similar to what I did for Hamilton. I've used shorter plans in the past and found that I respond better to the longer cycle, as it allows for a solid base building and ramp up. I’m also thrilled to be working with Lindsey from Out for a Run Training again.

My runs this week went well and were all in my easy pace range. Normally I run 4-5 days a week, with two days of rest (before and after the long run). With the run streak, I’ve been doing 2km easy on my rest days. I read somewhere that a run that lasts less than 30 minutes doesn't require much recovery, so I'm not too worried about over dong it.

My long run was 20km on Saturday. I woke up that morning and noticed fresh snow on the ground (it is winter, after all). The temperatures were warm enough that I knew it wouldn’t be too icy, so I decided to go out as planned. I’m so glad I did. While it was tough to run on the snow (basically the whole route had not been plowed), it was a beautiful morning. I took an espresso Hammer gel around 10km and had some water in hand.

Quickly after the long run, we hopped in the car and travelled to Montreal. My sister and bother-in-law had been taking care of our kitty while we were out East for New Years. Happy to have Saxby back! We also had dinner at Steak Frites. Highly recommend this place if you're in Montreal! Basically you pick your meat, and they bring unlimited fries and sauces to go with. Yum.

In other news, my parents completed an 8 hour ultra this weekend. THEY ARE AMAZING. I highly recommend checking out the race recap on my Mom's blog.